Indian Navy Invites Bids for Four Amphibious Warships to Expand Reach

India seeks to expand navy’s reach with 4 amphibious warships

The Indian Navy has invited bids for four large amphibious warships, a move aimed at strengthening its ability to support naval logistics and humanitarian missions across the Indian Ocean.

The vessels will be landing platform docks (LPDs), each with a displacement of more than 30,000 tonnes. Indian Navy Vice Chief Vice Admiral Ajay Kochhar said at a media briefing on Monday that a request for proposal had been issued to shortlisted shipyards the previous week.

All four LPDs will be built in India, while their electric propulsion systems will be developed under an India, UK defence partnership. The partnership was announced during a meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then UK prime minister Keir Starmer in Mumbai in October last year.

Ships designed for troops, equipment and relief operations

Each ship will be 220 metres long and is estimated to cost nearly US$5.3 billion, with the four vessels costing that amount in total. The ships will be able to accommodate up to 900 fully equipped army personnel, along with vehicles, tanks and artillery.

They will also carry specialised landing craft designed to ferry troops and equipment ashore. Their aviation facilities will include two heavy-lift helicopters and 12 helicopters for special operations. Onboard workshop facilities will support the ships’ operations.

The warships would be useful in humanitarian missions, but analysts say their deployment in military operations would also be crucial. Security experts have said that the value of the acquisition will depend on how effectively the navy can use the vessels during a crisis.

The planned fleet would therefore combine transport capacity, aviation support and landing capability in a single platform. Its stated role spans naval logistics and humanitarian missions across the Indian Ocean, while its military utility would depend on operational use during a crisis.

Source: South China Morning Post